Turn your fence line into an ordered Plan
Sketch the fence from one end to the other before entering dimensions. Label each straight stretch as a Run, each opening as a Gate, and each right turn as a Corner. In this planner, the order is part of the input. Run, Gate, Corner, Run describes a different path from Run, Corner, Gate, Run. Use the up and down controls to match your sketch, then inspect the plan drawing to confirm that the opening and turn occur in the intended places.
The default Plan contains a 40-foot Run, a four-foot Gate, a right-angle Corner, and a 24-foot Run. The two Run dimensions add up to 64 feet. The Gate is additional, so the phrase “64-foot example” describes those Runs, not the complete property boundary. Because adjacent Segments share Posts, adding every outside-to-outside Run dimension and the Gate width is also not a reliable way to infer the global centerline distance. Use the explicit Post table when you need that distance.
Measure each Run’s Overall Length from the outside face of its first Post to the outside face of its last Post. The planner deducts both terminal Posts and every interior Post. Do not use the clear opening between existing Posts in an Overall Length field. For an existing opening that only needs evenly spaced Members, the baluster spacing calculator accepts Clear Length directly. Both tools accept inches, feet with fractions, and explicit millimeter dimensions, but the geometric meaning of the field still matters.
Establish the Posts before counting pickets
The example uses 3.5-inch Posts and a maximum Bay clear length of eight feet, or 96 inches. First deduct the two terminal Post widths from the 480-inch Run: 473 inches remain. Divide that provisional clear length by 96 and round up to choose five Bays. Five Bays require six Posts. After all six Post widths are deducted, 459 inches remain for the actual openings, so each opening is 91.8 inches. The maximum is a limit, not a promise of exactly eight-foot openings.
Repeat the calculation for the 288-inch Run. Deducting its terminal Posts leaves 281 inches, which requires three Bays at the same maximum. Four Posts occupy 14 inches, leaving 274 inches divided into three openings of 91⅓ inches. Those openings differ slightly from the first Run’s 91.8 inches. Keeping that difference visible is essential: a single average Bay would conceal the actual geometry. The drawing labels B1 through B8, and the result table uses the same labels for its count, Gap and print link.
The two Runs do not need six plus four independent Posts plus another pair for the Gate. The first Run’s last Post is also the Gate’s first Post. The Gate adds one Post at its far side. The Corner turns around that same far Gate Post, and the second Run begins there. The complete default Plan therefore has 10 Posts. The Post roles show the shared Gate and Corner position instead of buying or drawing another support at the same center.
Allow space for the Gate hardware
Gate width is the leaf width, not the clear opening between its Posts. The default leaf is 48 inches wide. Hinge and latch allowances are each 3/8 inch, making the clear opening 48¾ inches. Change those allowances to match the selected hardware and leaf construction. They are editable dimensions, not universal hinge recommendations. The planner adds the opening and the appropriate Post-center distance, reserves that space, and places no pickets or Rails inside the Gate opening.
Check the Gate’s swing and its relationship to a Corner on your physical sketch. This version only uses the clear opening in its quantity and position calculation; it does not test whether a swinging leaf hits another fence, a wall or the ground. A Corner always turns the subsequent path clockwise by 90 degrees. Consecutive or terminal Corners are rejected because they do not describe a supported connection. Closed loops, slopes, diagonal gates and arbitrary-angle corners need geometry beyond this Plan model.
Solve the pickets inside every Bay
The example pickets are 3.5 inches wide with a target Gap of 2.5 inches. With no picket pinned to either Post, n pickets create n+1 gaps. For each opening, subtract the total width of a candidate whole count and divide the remaining length by the number of gaps. The calculator compares feasible whole counts and selects the Gap closest to the target. It does not use the overall Run length as though the Posts and Gate were empty space.
Each default Bay selects 15 pickets. In the first Run, 15 pickets occupy 52.5 inches. The remaining 39.3 inches divide into 16 gaps, producing 2.45625 inches per Gap. In the second Run the unrounded Gap is about 2.42708 inches. The screen rounds these values to the nearest 1/16 inch, while the geometry and printable marks retain the original values. Eight Bays with 15 pickets each give 120 installed pickets. The small difference in Gap between Runs follows directly from their different Clear Lengths.
Compare Equal with Fixed before marking
Equal mode spreads all remaining space across the interior and both End Gaps. Choose it when your visual goal is a consistent opening throughout each Bay. Fixed mode preserves the interior target and centers the remaining space at the two ends. Switching modes changes the positions and can change the count, so make that choice before printing strips. Check the result beside each Post rather than comparing only the middle of the fence. The picket spacing guide walks through this distinction with a dry layout.
A Gap target of zero is accepted for a closed appearance, but whole stock widths may not fill every opening exactly. Equal mode can leave a small residual Gap; it does not quietly rip all the pickets to achieve a closed panel. If your product requires a particular overlap, installation spacing or fastening pattern, model the appropriate system separately. The planner assumes one line of uniform-width Members. Shadowbox, overlapping boards, premade panels and structural rail selection are outside this version’s calculation.
Read the takeoff as a cut list
The default Plan has 120 installed pickets. At 10% waste, the purchase count is 132. The waste setting changes the purchase allowance, not the installed geometry or marks. Two Rails per Bay produce 16 Rail cuts: ten at 91.8 inches and six at 91⅓ inches before display rounding. This is a cut list, not an optimization of store-bought stock lengths. Allow for saw kerf, end trimming, defects and your selected connection method when deciding which stock lengths to buy.
The screw estimate uses two screws per Member per Rail, then adds the chosen allowance. That yields 480 installed screws for the default 120 pickets and two Rails, or 528 with 10% allowance. It excludes Post hardware, Gate hinges, latches and special brackets. The Post length is your above-ground height plus your buried length. The example values are arithmetic inputs. This page does not select a footing depth or establish that the Posts, Rails or fasteners are structurally adequate for your site.
Check the plan at full scale
Open a Bay’s running-measurement details and measure every position from its left inside face. Do not restart the tape at each picket or repeatedly step a rounded pitch. The first left edge, each center and the final boundary are different marks with different purposes. For a Post-only layout, open the fence Post spacing calculator with the same query parameters. Its table gives the Post centers and roles while hiding picket inputs that are irrelevant to setting out the supports.
Print Strip B1 first, choose the correct paper size, and measure the six-inch calibration line on the actual output. Join matching page boundaries without overlap, then compare the strip against the physical Clear Length before making permanent marks. If a Post moves during installation, remeasure the affected Bay and regenerate its layout. Copy plan link after your final edits so the stored address reflects the current dimensions. Review the formulas and assumptions whenever a result differs from your rough estimate; the Bay boundaries usually explain the difference.